Persona: Into The Nightmares
by Severen
Summary: A group of teenagers in a multicultural metropolis discover they have powers long hidden inside themselves and must enter a battle of good vs evil inside the dream world. All the while juggling the good, the bad, and just plain ugliness of high school. Original characters. Contains strong language, violence, and all that other fun stuff you see in R Rated movies.
1. Prologue

One night, six people fell asleep and dreamed the same dream.

A noise outside their bedroom doors called their attention, as much as they wanted to stay in bed and fall back asleep, they simply couldn't. As if they weren't in control of their bodies, one by one they all got out of their beds, and slowly made their way to their doors. Waiting for them on the other side was something they were not expecting: their school hallway. Clean and spotless with the sun shining in through the big windows on their right. At the end of the hallway, past all the lockers and classrooms was a figure in shadow. Just as soon as they saw the figure, it walked to the right around the corner where they couldn't see it anymore.

Without thinking, all six ran after it not knowing why they were doing so. The cold tile of their school floor hitting their bare feet or causing them to slip in their socks, did not dissuade them. Two of them briefly wondered why they were going after this figure in the first place.

"Wait!" One of them shouted, causing the other five to turn around and see who shouted. But they saw no one there. Some shouted back, but the others didn't hear.

They continued their chase for the mysterious figure but when they rounded the corner, saw no one there. Just another empty hallway, however this one was different. While the other was bright and clean, this one was the opposite. Tiles were missing on the floor, it was dark and covered in shadow, flourescent lightbulbs and wires hung from the ceiling, and where there would have been a door to enter, was just half of one. There were big sections of walls missing, giving one a good look into classrooms and bathrooms. Inside the classrooms chairs and desks were flipped over, white and blackboards with cracked or sections completely torn off. The bathrooms were just as bad. Rats inside, with foul water coming out of some burst pipes. Even that wasn't what really disturbed them. It was a presence. A strong presence draped in what they could only describe as evil.

Some went through bravely, the rest with fear.

They walked slowly through the hallway. Cautious now. Even the ones who had walked through bravely were starting feel nervous. They kept hearing noises in the empty looking they progressed forward and moved quicker the noises grew louder and louder. A footstep right behind them only to look back and see no one there, a laugh from above, or loud clang in a room. After a while they were all running for their lives. Looking and pleading desperately for an exit from this nightmare. The presence was getting stronger and stronger as the hall got darker and darker. Suddenly a body fell from the ceiling in front of them. Some screamed in shock and the others cursed loudly, almost loud enough all of them to hear. The room became light enough for them to make out that it was a man in a work shirt and sweater vest. They couldn't see the face however as the body was on it's stomach. They all stayed still trying to calm down. As they stood they noticed what looked like a stab wound on the body's back. As they moved forward to investigate, the body moved. Without thinking they hopped over it and moved back while facing the body. It moved again, and again. Blood started to pool up underneath it, they noticed that something seemed to be moving inside. A hand tore through the back, but then went back inside. As much as they tried, the six people could not look away.

Blood shot out of the hole in the body as if by a fire body itself tore in half at the waist. The legs went towards them and the upper torso back from where they of them began to breath heavily and almost throw up, one of them however, found themselves suddenly in awe. At the spot where the body had been could only be described as a hole full of blood. Then a figure began to slowly rise from it, as a platform was pushing it up. The figure was revealed as a man, in a suit . Finally he got up to the point where it looked like he was standing on the blood. He snapped his fingers and almost all of it suddenly crawled off, as if he had command of it. Some still remained on his suit and his face. They couldn't see the face as it was covered by some shadow. But they could see enough to discern that he was smiling. They all stood still waiting for what he or it was going to do next. Slowly he raised his hand to them the way one would to a bride on her wedding day, and he spoke.

"Come with me." He said.  
Suddenly behind them at the end of the hallway a wall exploded with blinding light. They all looked back at it and then at the man in the suit. They still couldn't see his face, as if light just couldn't touch him.

He said nothing, he just held out his hand and shook his head as if saying,"Don't make a mistake." Simultaneously, five of them ran for the light. One however, took his hand and disappeared along with him.

The other five ran so fast into the light they didn't notice they were falling until they felt wind rushing their faces. They came out of the light, and went through what looked like clouds. As they passed through, they looked around realized they were falling from the sky. The ground below got closer and closer until it looked like a toy city with toy cars driving by. They screamed at the top of their lungs as one by one they hit the ground.

Four of them awoke in their beds with jolt, realizing they had just had one of those "falling dreams." They breathed heavily and noted that they were covered in a cold sweat. Slowly, the other part of their dream, with the blood covered man, started to materialize in their minds. And a sense of dread, but also relief hit them. Just a dream.

The one who didn't wake up, continued falling. She went right through the street, into darkness again. For a moment she wondered with terror if she was just going to continue falling forever. When suddenly, she heard what sounded like a train sounding off. She saw a moving light below her, coming in the direction that she was falling. Suddenly she did a flip and was falling in a sitting position. "Please wake me up!" She yelled. But then she very softly landed on what felt like a couch.

She looked around, while trying to slow her breathing down. The room she had landed in was moving. She looked behind her and saw a window, but past the window was just pitch black. She looked up to see only a blue ceiling with some fine gold designs. In fact, the whole room was blue. It looked like an old fashioned private carriage on a train, it was very spacious. On the opposite side of her couch, was what looked like a mini bar. She was barely starting to take this all in, when suddenly some lights to her right turned on. In the dim light she could see two figures. One looked like a young woman with black hair, only a few years older then her. And to her right was a bald man with a table in front of him. A bald man with a very long nose. They didn't seem to notice she was there.

She was scared, but she didn't get the sense that these people were evil, not like the blood covered man. She was about to ask who they were and what was going on when the man and woman looked over suddenly. Her mouth closed as quickly as she had opened it to speak.

She made eye contact with the man with the long nose for a moments before he finally spoke up and said, "Welcome to The Velvet Room."


	2. Welcome

"Velvet Room?" She asked. Confused by what that meant. She supposed it could be literal since, now that she thought about it, everything did seem to be made of velvet. "Am I dreaming this?"

"Exactly," replied the man with the long nose," you needn't be alarmed. You are fast asleep in the real world." He said reassuringly and then continued," this place exists between dream and reality. Mind and Matter."

"Mind and Matter?" She replied. She wasn't getting any of this."I'm sorry could you please explain more clearly?"

The man simply chuckled lightly,"Patience, my dear. All will be explained soon enough." He paused for a moment," my name is Igor, and I am so very delighted to make your acquaintance." He seemed to mean that genuinely. Throughout all this, he would not stop smiling. He looked like he was holding in laughter, yet at the same time perfectly calm."This room," he motioned to the whole room," it can only be entered by those who are bound by a contract. It may be that you have a fascinating road to walk," he motioned to his lady friend, who got up and walked over behind the minibar.

His assistant motioned to Igor's guest to come to her. She got up hesitantly, still not sure what to make of all this. She made her way over to the minibar, and trying to seem comfortable rested her elbows on it."Now then," she heard Igor say," why don't you introduce yourself?"

She turned back to Igor's assistant, who while she had looked away, had pulled out a small blue book with one page inside. All that was written on it was:

Time never waits,  
It delivers all equally to the same end.  
I hereby agree to the statement above,  
And I chooseth this fate of my own free will.

She looked up at the assistant in front of her,"What does this mean?"

"All it means," said Igor which prompted her to face him," is that you will accept responsibility for all your actions going forward from this point."

She thought about this for a moment, she had so many questions that seemed to be buzzing around her head. Why was she here? Why were these people asking her to sign a contract? Was this actually a dream? If it was, what about before this? In the school? With the blood covered man? Was that a dream? She put her head on the minibar and groaned. She was about to explode with all these questions when all of a sudden she felt a hand on her's. She looked up at the assistant, who said nothing, but looked her dead in the eye. She felt as if she was staring into her soul, comforting her and easing her stress. That look said so much and so little at once, it seemed to say,"Don't be afraid, we're here to help." Help from what? She didn't know, but all of a sudden she felt at ease. She looked down at the contract again and on the side next to it, was a quill pen. One of those old ones that looked like feathers. She picked it up and signed her name: Maggie Long.

After she signed it, Maggie put the pen down. She stepped back a bit. Igor's assitant flipped the book with the contract around and looked at it briefly then closed it with one hand, when she did, it seemed to vanish. Maggie blinked twice and then looked over at Igor, who was now holding it and reading it carefully,"Hmm, I see." He said,"Oh! Where are my manners? Allow me to introduce you to my assitant, Marie. She is a resident of this place, just as I am."

Maggie looked back at the minibar where Marie was standing, she tipped a very uniquely designed train conductor's hat she was wearing," I am very pleased to meet you, Miss Long."

Maggie, not sure what to say back, and a bit weirded out at being called Miss Long, just nodded. "So, what now?" She asked them both.

Igor motioned to Marie,"Marie? If you please?"

Marie nodded, and from behind the minibar, pulled out a small blue key, then handed it to Maggie. "Hold on to that," said Igor," you'll need it for the next time you want to come back."

"Next time?" Started Maggie," What do you mean next time?"

Igor merely chuckled,"As I said, patience, my dear. All will be explained the next time we meet. Until then, farewell..."

Maggie was dumbstruck,"Wait, you haven't even-" And then everything went black.

She awoke to the sound of her mother's voice,"Maggie, get up. Come on, get up," she said softly.

Maggie breathed in sharply and sat up a bit, having completely forgotten what she had dreamt. "What time is it?" She asked.

"5:05 A.M." said her mom who was standing beside the bed, to which Maggie groaned,"Hey," began her mom,"you should be grateful, I gave you five extra minutes." She said playfully and with a smile.

Maggie fell back on her pillow,"Ha-ha," she said sardonically,"are we there yet?"

"We're about to be," said her mom,"you should get up, put some clothes on and grab something to eat at the cafeteria, because we're not gonna be able to stop until we get to the house. And I have no idea how long that's gonna take with all the processing and traffic we're gonna have to go through."

"Crap," replied Maggie," no time for a shower, huh?"

"You took one last night," replied her mom," if you feel real nasty you can shower when we get to the house, it should have water and electricity by the time we get there."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she said while going over their already packed suitcases,"I told you, Mags, these people have everything covered."

"I guess," said Maggie while getting out of bed," all right gimme a sec," She took off her pajama pants and put on the jeans she had been wearing the day before, instead of changing the shirt, she put on her hoodie and another jacket over it. "I'll go grab some food and be right back. She started to grab all her stuff in a haze, not really paying attention to what she was doing, her phone, new house keys, back pack. The only things she couldn't find was her retainers,"Crap," she said while tossing her stuff all over the bed, "Mom, have you seen my retainers?"

"What?" Asked her mom, incredulous," you mean you didn't put them on last night?"

Maggie rubbed her eyes," I was really, really tired. I just put on my PJs and went to bed, I didn't even think about it."

Her mom sighed and scratched her head trying to think,"Uh... I don't know. Check the bathroom. You better hope they're in there,"she said without some annoyance," you lose those and you're on your own, you're not getting another pair from me."

"Fine, fine," said her daughter," I got it." She went into the bathroom, and as soon as she walked in she saw them in container, right there on the sink, staring her in the face. She sighed," Thank God," and grabbed the container and put it in her jacket pocket. She turned on the sink and splashed some water on her to try and wake herself up a bit more, she was gonna have a long day.

Then she just stood there for a moment, looking at her seventeen year old reflection in the mirror. She thought about how people mostly told her she took after her dad, she had his distinct chinese features, brown eyes, black hair. She had kept it long, but recently, maybe as some strange subconscious response to this big move, she had cut it short, just below her jawline. "Freaking A, dad," she said quietly to no one in particular," why the hell are you making us come out to this giant city in the middle of the ocean?" A knock took her out of her thoughts. "Yeah?"

"Maggie," she heard her mom say, "everything okay in there? I heard you talking."

"Just thinking out loud, mom." She said, "I found my retainers, I'll be out in a sec." She turned on the sink again and put her hand under the water briefly, then ran her wet hand through her hair. Trying to make it somewhat presentable. Soon as she was done she stepped out to their room,"You want me to bring you something back? Aren't you hungry?" Asked Maggie

"Strangely enough, no" replied her mom,"I'll just have one of those pastry things we have in the car on the drive over."

"Ok," said her daughter, "You sure?"

"Yeah I'm sure. Thank you."

Maggie nodded. She picked up her backpack with all her stuff that wasn't in her pockets and put it on. She put her hand on her mom's left shoulder briefly as if saying, I'll be right back. Just as she got to the door, she heard her mom's voice.

"Hey, Mags," she said with some concern in her voice.

Maggie sighed heavily, only because she knew what her mom was going to say. She had been hearing it for the past three days, she turned around in her mother's direction," Yeah, ma?"

"Don't be like that," she said," I worry, its what mothers do," she smiled sheepishly," Be careful, a big ship like this can be real dangerous."

She made her way to the cafeteria relatively quickly despite all the people in the halls lugging their crap out of their rooms. She was tall for a girl, about 5'7, but slender. It had always been easy for her to make her way through big crowds. On her way over she thought about how all this noise hadn't woke her up, but her mom had. Then again, the ship was owned by some big company. Wouldn't have surprised her if the doors and windows were completely sound-proof. Lucky for her, not many other people had gotten the idea to get something to eat right now as the big cafeteria was mostly empty. Either that, or they were all very ready to get off this ship and "Start over" as she had been hearing a lot through the TVs, speakers, and passengers over the past couple of weeks.  
She sat at one of the tables in the cafeteria eating an omelette, pancakes, little sausages, and to drink had some orange juice. She ate her food somewhat absent-mindedly. She found herself bothered by strange images in her head. She knew they were from a dream, but she couldn't remember the dream perfectly. She only had bits and pieces to work with.

"Hey, Maggie," she heard behind her. She turned around and smiled slightly at who was behind her. It was another girl she had met on the ship the first day they had gotten on. Her name was Annie Park. She was Korean, just a few inches shorter than Maggie, she had light brown hair, brown eyes, and wore rectangular black framed glasses. She spoke english with a slight accent. Unlike Maggie, who wasn't really overly excitable, she was a pretty cheerful sort."Mind if I sit with you?" She asked politely.

Maggie smiled, happy to see her new friend,"Not at all, Annie. Please," she motioned to the other side of the table in front of her." Aren't you gonna eat something?"

Annie smiled again and sat down. " No, she said," I ate an hour ago. Also we have some food we don't have to heat up.I'll eat it in the car."

"Wow," said Maggie," why didn't my mom and I think of that?"

"Because," said Annie as she tilted her slightly," you aren't as smart as I am." She said playfully.

Maggie hit her shoulder playfully," Screw you," she said and shared a laugh with Annie.

So," she started," are you and your mom all ready to get off the ship get to your new home?"

Maggie exhaled loudly, "Yes. I am so ready to get off. Don't get me wrong, as far as ships go, this is real nice, but I am so done with the sea, y'know?"

Annie rested her elbows on the table," Yeah," she started, " I know what you mean. I miss dry land," she said and laughed a bit with Maggie then made a sad face,"I miss America."

"Yeah," replied Maggie while looking down at her food," I miss it already, too."

"I already had to leave one place and adjust, and adjusting to America was hard enough, I didn't want to have to do it again." Said Annie.

"I'm sorry, Annie," said Maggie,"I mean I left China when I was like, three or something. I didn't have to adjust to it like you did, how I feel now. Is this what it was like when you left Korea?"

"I don't think so."

Maggie furrowed her eyebrows,"What do you mean?"

"Well," she started," when I moved out to America with my parents, I didn't know any english and my parents only knew a little more than I did, so I was the perfect example of a foreigner in a place I didn't know. But here?" She looked and motioned around to the ship,"I've seen almost every culture, but not like in the U.S. I mean big groups. Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, other Koreans, British, Germans, almost everybody!"

Maggie thought about it," So its like a ship full of hundreds of people trying to adjust at the same time as you."

"Yes," started Annie, "Its very strange but also a little exciting!" She said, regaining her normally cheerful demeanor.

"How so?" Asked Maggie.

"Well, Maggie," said Annie," Can you remember the last time big groups of people from all different countries were all going to the same New World?"

"Wow," said Maggie as a realization just dawned on her," this is some next level history making stuff we're in on isn't it?"

"Yes," said Annie," I believe so."

"Still,"started Maggie with a slightly cynical tone," there's one big glaring difference between this ship and The Mayflower."

Annie frowned a bit," What do you mean?"

Maggie took a long drink of her orange juice,"Well. If I remember my sophomore history class correctly, The New World and The Mayflower weren't owned by the Kirijo Group."

By 8:00 A.M. everyone was out of their rooms and the ship was ready to dock. "Everyone to your cars," said a feminine voice over the loudspeakers," we will be docking shortly. Please have your K-IDs ready." The message repeated itself several more times in other languages. Maggie and her mother were in their car by the time the ship stopped moving.  
They had been unable to see this mysterious new land they were moving and spending the rest of their lives in from the lower deck that had no windows. Both were more than a little anxious to finally see it. Maggie briefly wondered how Annie was feeling. She looked around her and saw what seemed like endless cars forwards and back and side to side. For an area packed with so many people it was really quiet. Seemed like everyone was just waiting for the big doors in front of them to open. She wondered how many of these people were running away from something. Or maybe just looking for new opportunities. Either way, people were going to be disappointed or surprised beyond belief.

She started to say something when another voice inside the car said something," All passengers have your K-IDs out, we have docked and will be opening the doors momentarily. The Kirijo Group thanks you for accepting our offer and wishes you all the best of luck in this new chapter of your lives." Maggie and her mom looked over to their right. At the corner of the inside of their car, in between the windshield and passenger door was a small device that looked like a walkie talkie. "Please turn on your engines," almost simultaneously all the cars on the deck turned on. "Keep your cars in Park, until instructed to move forward."

"Ugh," started Maggie," this is killing me."

Her mom scoffed,"How do you think I feel?" She smiled at her daughter.

Maggie smiled back, but as soon as her mom turned forward again, she frowned. Bits of her dream were coming back. Moment by moment more of it became clear. Blurred images seemed to just clear up, like the sky on a cloudy day when the sun broke through. A school hallway, a shadowy figure, the presence of other people, and just when she got past that, bam it just went blank. "Dammit," she whispered.

"Everything okay?" She heard her mom ask.

"Fine," she said, "just uh dropped my phone."

Her mom was about speak up again when they heard," Everyone be ready, the doors will open in 3,2,1." And then they opened. "Welcome," the voice said," to New Port City."

Everyone was blinded by the light at first. Unfortunately Maggie and her mother were much farther back so they couldn't really see anything. Ahead of them, a ramp came out of the bow of the ship and landed softly on the concrete in front of the ship. "Those in front, move forward now." Much to Maggie's surprise everyone moved forward rather quickly and they were at the front in about 30 minutes. It was there that Maggie and her mother got their first real look at the city.

It was enormous. Here at the port there were no skyscrapers or other large buildings, but they could see them far in the distance, it was so big it seemed to make the giant ship they had lived on for weeks look small. They made their way up the road a few feet at a time, and as they got closer and closer, they were able to make out more details. The place was clean, people had been living here for about a year now, but it looked like everyone had just moved in a few months ago. At the top of the hill, there was what looked like a few toll booths. About ten lanes were moving forward and it was still packed. But still, they moved quickly. It was 9:32 A.M. when they got up to the booths. From here they could see it was heavily guarded. There was a big barb-wire fence and armed guards at towers along the fence. Finally they were up at the checkpoint. Where a big computer screen to their left on the driver's side was waiting for them. Along with a small gate right in front of the car.

It was a big touch screen, Maggie's mom noted it was already smudged with other people's finger prints,"All right," she started," let's see here."

The screen had various language options on it, she immediately picked English. "Hello," said a cheerful voice coming from the computer that was obviously artificial," and welcome to New Port City, please enter your Kirijo Identfication card into the slot." She picked up her card which she had in the cupholder next to her and inserted it into the slot," now searching, one moment please," the screen then played an animation of a person in a suit looking though a big phonebook, then a "!" with a loud noise accompanying it appeared above the person's head, then the phone book flew towards the screen," welcome Samantha and Margaret Long." Maggie groaned, she hated when people called her by that name. Then a panel next to the screen opened and a small black device was inside,"please take the device to your right."  
Samantha took it and examined it, it looked like a smart phone but thicker,"what is this?" She said to no one in particular.  
"That is a GPS device," said the screen," it has been programmed to take you to your new house. Now please, take your Kirijo Identification Card back." The slot under the screen opened and the card popped out.

As soon as Samantha took it out it closed and the gate in front of them opened. She took her foot of the brake and they passed through., "Hey Mags," she said," turn this GPS thing on for me please."  
Maggie yawned," Okay." She examined it for a moment, and found that the back had plastic wrap you could peel off. She took it off and found it was real sticky. Then found a button on the top of the device. She pushed it and as soon as she did, it turned on and began navigating them." Its on," she said as she passed the device to her mom."You can put it on the dashboard and it will stay there."

"Great," thanks Mags." She stuck it on the dashboard and it began to call out directions. "Shoot," she said.

Maggie yawned again,"What's wrong, Mom?"

"Looks like it's gonna take us about two hours to get to the house." She said then sighed. Maggie groaned loudly."Go to sleep if you want, you can take in all these sights tomorrow if you want, my rep told me we have the next three days off to get acclimated."

"Goody," replied Maggie.A little while later they were approaching the main entrance to a big highway. Luckily like before, the cars were entering quickly. She leaned back and looked out the window, she saw a large statue of a man in a suit with what looked like an eyepatch standing with his hand on his chin as if he were thinking about something. "Hey mom," she started," who is that supposed to be?"  
"I think that's supposed to be the father of the CEO of the Kirijo Group." Replied her mom.  
"Oh," said Maggie."Interesting..." She heard her mom begin to say something else before she fell asleep.

She dreamed nothing and woke up when she felt the car stop. Maggie rubbed her eyes and shook her head to wake herself up. She looked out the window and saw that they were parked in the driveway of a very nice two story house.  
It was painted white, with a traditional shingled roof, but on top of the roof she could see what looked like solar panels and on the left side, a chimney.

She looked at the clock in the car and saw that it said 12:17 P.M.,"Seems like it took a little longer than two hours, mom."

"Yeah," she replied," there was an accident on the highway so we got held up a bit."  
"Was eveyone okay?"  
"I don't know," said her mom," but I hope so." She paused for a moment," Come on lets get it all out of the car then you can go back to sleep. Furnture is all set up inside, already."

"Really?" asked Maggie incredulously.

"Yeah," said her mom," set it up with the rep about two weeks ago, its all paid for."

"Groovy." Said Maggie tiredly. She was too exhausted to care too much.

They got their stuff inside as quick as they could. Maggie had a hard time getting her stuff upstairs to her new room but she managed to get it done. On her way up she noted that the whole place was decorated very much in her mother's style. She went inside her new room and found the bed already set up perfectly. She'd decorate the place her way later. She left her bags on the floor next to the door and dropped her backpack next to the bed. She kicked off her shoes.  
She sat down on it and immediately remembered she had stuff in her pockets. She slipped her phone out easily but had to struggle to her keys out," Stupid. Tight. Jeans." She said as she pulled them out. She got them out with one last pull and nearly fell back on the bed doing so. Just as she was about to toss them on the floor next to her phone, something caught her eye. A new key. One that hadn't been on the night before. It was beautiful and otherworldly, it looked like the key to an old lock from the 17th century in some castle somewhere. Then all of a sudden, she remembered her dream perfectly. "Hold on to that," she heard Igor say,"you'll need it for the next time you want to come back."

Her eyes widened as the realization hit her,"Holy shit." She said, " it was all real, Igor, Marie, the.." then she stopped, she remembered the first half of the dream, the school hallway, the presence of others, and..."Him." Then right there on the spot she fell back onto her bed and fell asleep.


End file.
